I love Halloween as much as the next person, really. It offers a unique opportunity for creative expression, for transformative personality experimentation, and of course, for delighting the magical sensibilities of children.

But is it possible, perhaps, that we have over done it? Between my two children, we have eight opportunities to don costumes and acquire candy. Eight! And that doesn’t even include neighborhood door knocking!

I’m not complaining, not really. But I am interested in making at least part of our Halloween festivities a bit more meaningful.

This is why our family plans to participate in the Trick or Treat for UNICEF campaign. UNICEF offers global humanitarian relief, providing children with clean water, health care, nutrition, education, and emergency aid. This is the 60 Year Anniversary of the Trick or Treat campaign, empowering kids to take to the streets in costume to help other kids.

Get started by downloading the official handbook. It includes several good tips on how to help your children understand what UNICEF does. I used the following to get Little Miss Three and Miss Kindergarten talking.

• What do children need to be healthy and safe?
• What do children need to thrive and learn?
• Where do we get our water? Food? Medical care?
• Where do we learn?
• What might happen if those resources weren’t there for us?

There are numerous ways to participate. My daughters were so excited to help after I talked to them about UNICEF that they raided their coin jars and decided that their money should be part of our contribution. We found a simple canister wrapper that we will use to dress up their jars for the big night.

If you would rather, hunt down your own UNICEF box at Toys R Us or at your local school or community center if they have them. Or, if you’re sitting out this year’s door-to-door madness, consider setting out a donation box during one of the many Halloween parties that pop up.

You can send in your accumulated contribution any way you like, but for the purposes of instant gratification on Halloween night, we plan to track down a Coinstar machine in our area (there are several nearby).

Have you participated in Trick or Treat for UNICEF? Share your experiences!

Tags: Free, Improving Lives

About Sarah

Sarah Aadland is striving to make family volunteering a meaningful habit for her family of five. Join the conversation as she ponders what they may (or may not have) learned and looks for helpful information about raising compassionate kids.Though she plans to one day put her Masters in Public Policy back to work for social justice, she sees family volunteering as a way to build a stronger community, a better world, and a more connected family. In addition to her children, Sarah tends a large garden, a small flock of chickens, and a habit of mindfulness amid the necessary rituals of parenting.

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